Please help me diagnose a drivetrain problem

[michael]

The vehicle in question is a 96 outback 5 speed. The problem occurs in 2 forms that annoy the heck out me. 1st - when you let the clutch out you get a bucking sensation, now before you tell me to replace the trans mount, engine mounts etc let me get into the audible part of this. 2nd - while coasting in any gear with light / almost no pressure on the gas pedal on a flat or downgrade surface I get a whirring sound. This sound can be stopped by letting off or getting on the gas. It's as though you have to center the torque of the drivetrain to reproduce it. My first thought was the carrier bearing but I swear it's coming from further back which leads me to the diff mounts or worse. Before I go throwing parts at it please hepl me narrow it down further.

[Sarra]

Have a shop look at it. The carrier would make sound from the front of the car, the sound would travel down the driveshaft into the gearbox and it would sound like it's coming from the front of the gearbox.

Basically, it sounds to me like you have two problems. One is the clutch, the other is something either in the gearbox or in the rear diff.

If I were you, I would ask a shop to figure this out. Or you could just throw parts at it. Your car is now 12 years old, it's going to start wanting parts soon anyway.